Flaming space rock found in meteor crash just days after Nasa confirmed 1,000lb fireball flying over Texas
A PIECE of flaming space rock has been discovered days after a 1,000lb fireball zoomed over a small Texas town.
The American Meteor Society confirmed the latest findings in the Lone Star State and said two other fragments were found in Italy and France days prior.
Preliminary information led NASA experts to believe a "meteoroid," which becomes a meteor when it burns up in the Earth's atmosphere and a meteorite when it hits the ground, zoomed across Texas skies on Wednesday evening.
Government officials believe the massive space rock was a whopping two feet before it split into pieces about 21 miles above the Earth and crashed into unknown locations.
It was moving at 27,000mph with the energy of eight tons of TNT, according to NASA Meteor Watch.
NASA warned locals to never touch pieces of the flaming space rock and to notify police if anything suspicious was found.
The dark rock appears to be fairly smooth and stands out against the Southwestern scrub in the picture taken by an anonymous source.
The Italian meteorite, meanwhile, landed on someone's balcony in Matera, according to .
It comes after officials in Rio Grande Valley confirmed a meteorite was spotted on Thursday after local officials were flooded with calls of various sightings.
Residents reported a loud boom and said that their houses were shaking, prompting panic around the city.
Hidalgo County Sheriff Eddie Guerra said Houston Air Traffic Control received two reports from aircraft of a meteorite sighting west of McAllen.
A point of impact was unknown, Guerra said at the time.
There were no reports of damage.
Two reports came in from near Mission, Texas, while two people reported seeing it in San Antonio and a fifth reported a sighting in Uvalde.
"Small trail that disappeared when the fireball burned out," the San Antonio witness wrote.
"It seemed to go in a trajectory that was towards Lytle TX," a second person in San Antonio wrote.
The witness in Uvalde said it looked like "an emergency flare" while a Mission resident reported a trail of smoke across the sky.
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The origin of the mystery object remains unknown, however, meteorites are not generally a threat to the public, NASA said on Thursday.
“The meteor seen in the skies above McAllen is a reminder of the need for NASA and other organizations to increase our understanding and protection of Earth,” the government agency said.